NATCHEZ &045; A wing for patients with special needs soon will be completed and open at Natchez Regional Medical Center.

The Seniors Behavioral Health Care Program will open at the end of September, providing hospital care for Medicare-eligible patients whose diagnoses could range from depression to early Alzheimer’s disease.

The 10-bed unit has required extensive construction to bring the wing into compliance with federal guidelines, said Jack Houghton, medical center CEO.

&uot;We’ve created patient rooms, meeting rooms, therapy rooms and a small lunch room,&uot; Houghton said. &uot;It’s a secure unit and a short-stay unit. The renovation we’re doing is costing approximately $300,000. The annual revenue to the hospital from Medicare for all the psychiatric-related services could approach three-quarters of a million dollars a year.&uot;

The new program will add the equivalent of 20 new jobs, &uot;the same as if a new industry with 20 jobs was coming to town,&uot; Houghton said.

One of the delightful surprises during the planning of the program has been finding the professional staff among Natchez health-care workers.

&uot;We were somewhat concerned early on that we wouldn’t find those mental health professionals we needed for this type of facility in Natchez,&uot; Houghton said. &uot;Our greatest fear was that we might have to use our acute care nurses to staff the facility.&uot;

When the search began, what emerged was a number of professionals who were living in Natchez but traveling out of town to work in behavioral units. &uot;We have had a tremendous response. These are people with the credentials, the training and the experience in mental health services,&uot; Houghton said.

The Seniors Behavioral Health Care Program will not be a typical psychiatric unit. &uot;The state limits the number of psychiatric beds in the state and would not give us those,&uot; Houghton said. &uot;According to the state, there are already too many psychiatric beds in Mississippi; but we found out in July that a specialty unit such as this could be developed without changing the classification of our acute-care beds. This is called a ‘distinct part’ program within Medicare.&uot;

The medical director will be a psychiatrist. To start off the program, an interim director has agreed to fill the position until another psychiatrist comes on board.

&uot;This unit will bring a full-time psychiatrist to our community. The psychiatrist will spend 30 to 40 percent of his time directly involved with the unit, and the balance of his time will be in private practice,&uot; Houghton said.

Attracting a full-time psychiatrist to Natchez has been a real challenge, he said. The history of those attempts shows very few &uot;who have come and stayed long enough to build a relationship with the medical community. And that’s what we’re going to achieve.&uot;

What has been missing in those attempts to keep a psychiatrist in Natchez has been an anchor. &uot;This program will be that anchor,&uot; he said.

Natchez Regional is partnering with Diamond Health Care for help in managing the unit. &uot;Diamond has been essential in helping us with policies, procedures and all the federal guidelines.&uot;

The company has experience in mental health areas, including working with Singing River Medical Center in Pascagoula. &uot;They have over 50 programs nationwide. We would not have been able to pull it off without them,&uot; Houghton said.